User-generated content (UGC) is truly revolutionizing advertising for businesses. Consumers have grown increasingly skeptical of more traditional types of advertising, and UGC ads have swooped in to deliver a more authentic and trustworthy format for advertisers. Through featuring actual customers and detailing their genuine experiences, companies can use UGC ads to better resonate with their audiences, increase engagement stats, and boost conversions. In my guide to UGC ads, I explore everything you need to know about using UGC ads, their benefits, and best practices. Using my guide, you can learn how to create effective campaigns to successfully capture your audience’s attention, and build trust. 

First, what exactly are UGC ads?

What Are UGC Ads?

User-generated content ads describe marketing strategies that take advantage and leverage the authentic content created by customers and users. UGC is a great strategy, as it successfully delivers three prongs: building trust by demonstrating actual use and value in your products or services, building social proof that there are plenty of actual users out there willing to go to bat for your products, and delivering the type of content that feels authentic and genuine, rather than an unending stream of polished marketing campaigns created in a boardroom. 

Difference from Traditional Ads

User-generated content differs from traditional ads because it takes content generated by customers and uses images, text, and even video rather than relying entirely on brand-created content. The significance of user-generated content as part of your brand strategy is relatively simple: your target audience actually gets to be a part of brand strategy and creation. This helps solidify relationships you have with existing customers, encourage potential customers to purchase products or engage services in hopes of being featured, and humanizes your brand. 

Social media platforms are often rife with different instances of UGC; it is up to marketers like you to take those positive experiences and mentions and leverage them into top-notch marketing content that encourages connection across all of your social media channels. 

Further Reading: What is User Generated Content? The Definitive Guide to Leverage UGC for Marketing

Popular Platforms for UGC Ads

UGC is not necessarily common across all social media platforms. Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and YouTube are the platforms most likely to feature UGC ads. These platforms all have a format and structure to their social media posts that makes it relatively easy for brands to source content from social media users, and repurpose that content for marketing. 

Further Reading: The Top 13 UGC Platforms to Empower Your Content Marketing in 2025

Benefits of UGC Ads for Brands

UGC ads can initially seem difficult to come by; after all, not every brand has a robust enough sense of community that they can eschew traditional advertising altogether. Remember, though, that UGC comes in many different shapes and forms, and whether it is general reviews or unboxing video clips, most brands have some form of UGC they can effectively leverage to build trust, encourage engagement, and make marketing costs far more palatable.

Build Trust and Authenticity

UGC ads can help build trust and authenticity from content creators and businesses, as they showcase real people using a product or enlisting a service. A real person in an advertising campaign is far more compelling than a hired actor, or a recreation. When you use UGC in your marketing efforts, you are essentially capitalizing on word of mouth marketing and building on already-established trust. 

Higher Engagement

UGC ads often receive higher engagement rates than advertising campaigns made with more traditional methods, because they resonate with audiences and create the illusion of engaging more directly with other people, versus a conglomerate. UGC puts a friendly, recognizable face on your brand, by repurposing existing social media content or highlighting others’ authentic experiences with your business. 

Cost-Effectiveness

UGC content can come in several forms, and may include paid content creators or influencers. UGC content can also come in the form of reviews, unboxing videos, and more–all of which have the potential to cost nothing at all, or a coupon code or other discount in exchange for creating a review. This makes UGC highly cost-effective, coming in at much lower prices than traditional ads. 

Improved Ad Performance

The social proof offered by UGC ads is real. UGC ads consistently outperform traditional ads by as much as 29%, largely as a result of the differences perceived by potential customers when compared to standard advertisements. Engagement rates are far higher in UGC advertising campaigns when compared to traditional marketing, with 79% of people reporting that UGC significantly impacts their purchasing decisions. 

How to Create Effective UGC Ads

UGC ads can be generated across multiple platforms, and can be used on your socials, in blog posts, and more. Creating those ads is often more complex, though, than simply taking content from someone, throwing it up on your feed as-is, and calling it a day. Instead, there are guidelines and touch ups that you will have to create, and a basic framework you can lay out, to make sure you are creating engaging and effective UGC ads. 

Encouraging Customers to Create Content

If you are just starting out, or you are relatively new, you may not have any content generated by users with which to work. Encouraging customers to leave a product review is a great option for people new to their industry or niche. For others, contests, hashtags, and incentives work well to generate UGC in the form of reviews, user-generated photos and videos, and long-form content like blog posts. 

Incentives do not have to be large or make huge promises. Consider offering potential buyers a 5-10% discount on future purchases for leaving a review, for instance. In doing so, you only experience a minor change to your profits, while encouraging repeat business, building a rapport, and encouraging UGC creation. 

Curating High-Quality UGC

Not all user-generated content will be content you actually want to use. Quality standards will differ from person to person, and other idiosyncrasies like spelling errors and phrasing oddities may need to be altered. As you go over the user-generated content that has been created for your brand or products, focus on quality, authenticity, and relevance. You certainly don’t want a fall-themed example of UGC to publish in the dead of summer, for instance, nor do you want an ad with language or behavior that does not fit your mission statement. As you see more content build up on your customer’s social platforms or your own channels, parse through for the best there is to offer. 

Editing and Optimizing UGC for Ads

As I mentioned above, there is likely to be some need for edits or changes made to user-generated content. Polish all UGC prior to publishing it or running it. Adding captions, enhancing the quality of a video, and making sure all of the content you are publishing aligns with your brand’s message and values is an important part of bringing in and subsequently using UGC in your ads. 

As you add to, or polish your UGC, make sure you focus on the spirit of the message. Changing wording, adding a caption, or improving the quality of a video should not stomp on or otherwise change the overall message of a piece of content. The goal is to enhance what is already there, rather than changing it altogether. Authenticity is a powerful tool, so make sure you take advantage of it. 

Further Reading: 17 UGC Marketing Strategies to Generate More Sales in 2025

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Legal Considerations

User permission is vital in curating and using user-generated content. From video ads to print reviews, make sure you obtain user permission before using another person’s content in your ads. Copyright laws apply to all original, created content, so failure to get the appropriate permissions could result in a costly legal process. Prior to making any words, videos, or images a part of your marketing content, secure permission from the original creator. 

Best Practices for UGC Ads

I’ve discussed the many potential uses of UGC content, and why using UGC ads is a valuable strategy; now, I have put together how to most effectively put what I have suggested into practice. While using UGC ads as a whole is likely to be beneficial, there are some important considerations to take into account and implement to make your UGC ads shine. These include: 

Keeping It Authentic

One of the most significant benefits of UGC is its automatic authenticity. Make sure you are only selecting content that comes from real customers, who genuinely like, use, or value your brand and products. Avoid highly polished content, or content that is clearly staged or appears forced. 

Focus on Storytelling

UGC that tells a story is going to go over more effectively than UGC that sells a product. User engagement will be greater when satisfied customers tell their stories, from how a product solved a problem, to how a service improved a user’s life. Storytelling is the ideal content type, no matter its exact format. 

Further Reading: Brand Storytelling: The Definitive Guide

Test Different Formats

Not all UGC ads need to look the same. Just as you would use different formats for your brand-generated content, make sure that internal teams are varying UGC ad formats. Photos, videos, and customer reviews are all valuable ways to advertise and improve user engagement. 

Use Influencers and Brand Advocates

Influencers and brand advocates may not initially scream “user-generated content,” but UGC does not have to come exclusively from unaffiliated customers. Authentic user-generated content can include content from creators with whom you have partnered, and this type of content may have a broader reach and may have more credibility with an existing audience. Content from customers, while also valuable, may not have the same base of trust or support. 

Case Studies: Brands Successfully Using UGC Ads

Brands have been using customer content for a while to help shore up their marketing efforts, but some are able to use organic content more successfully or with greater ease than others. I have selected two brands whose UGC ad campaigns have consistently performed well and set them apart, to help pinpoint how to use this form of content effectively. 

Modcloth

Modcloth does a great job of using high-quality content sourced from actual users, and placing them in their digital marketing campaigns via landing pages and social platforms. UGC is encouraged via a branded hashtag, from which content is milled and featured. Modcloth encourages more UGC via a dedicated area of their website devoted to displaying images of customers wearing their creations. It is the ongoing dedication to partnership with customers, and encouraging those customers to engage with and show support of the brand that has been linked to the brand’s growth to a $100M company. 

Aerie

Aerie uses UGC in a powerful way, using it to both grab audience attention and inform their own approach to building customer trust. The company’s #AerieReal campaign encouraged users to not only take in images of models who had not been retouched, but to also contribute to changes in the culture of advertising and generate their own images to go along with the brand’s movement. Following the launch of this particular campaign, Aerie saw a 9% jump up in sales.  

Key Takeaways

The exact way you use your UGC will vary, but the basic idea remains the same: authenticity matters across your marketing channels, and finding ways to incorporate user-generated content into your day to day marketing operations can help more effectively reach your marketing goals. By using different formats and experimenting with what works for your brand (i.e. using UGC in email campaigns, on landing pages, and on social media pages), you can utilize this powerful marketing tool to feature actual product users and cultivate authenticity in your brand. 

Challenges of UGC Ads and How to Overcome Them

I have extolled the virtues of UGC ads, but there are some possible downsides. Quality control, legal issues, and actually seeing content curation can all be roadblocks to successfully utilizing UGC for your business. 

Quality Control

UGC runs the gamut, from highly polished and heavily edited, to blurry, out of focus, and with questionable language. Not all UGC should be taken in and featured; instead, make sure you screen existing UGC to feature only content that reflects your values and overall tone. 

Legal Issues

Consent is paramount. Again, make sure that you have express permission to use all content prior to including it in your campaigns, or featuring it on your site or channels. Failure to do so could result in fines or a lawsuit. 

Content Curation

Highlighting actual experiences with products is important, but make sure that UGC does not overtake all of your marketing channels or usurp all of your attention and energy. Customer photos are great, but should be punctuated with your own creative photos and content designed to appeal to a broader audience than the sometimes-narrow audience of a specific type of influencer. A vibrant community is more clearly visible against the backdrop of standard, traditional marketing, so make sure you have a good mix of both. 

Further Reading: The Ultimate Guide to Content Curation: Best Practices and 21 Top Tools for 2025

Conclusion

UGC ads offer your audience an authentic and cost-effective way to engage with your brand while improving your advertising campaigns’ performance. By using UGC, you can create ad campaigns that feel more genuine, resonate more easily with viewers, and drive measurable results. Using the guide I have outlined above, you can get the most out of your UGC ad campaigns.